Mesa Verde National Park

Yesterday afternoon we spent a few hours at Mesa Verde National Park. The purpose of this park is to preserve archeological sites of ancient Pueblo people. In this park you can learn about Pueblo culture and visit ancient cliff dwellings.  We hiked down to what is called the Spruce Tree House.

IMG_4722
Spruce Tree House from above

 

IMG_4725

 

IMG_4728

 

IMG_4730

 

IMG_4732

 

 

IMG_4734
KIva in Spruce Tree House

 

IMG_4746

 

 

IMG_4747

 

 

IMG_4748
We climbed down this ladder into one of the kivas

 

 

IMG_4749
Look closely and see some petroglyphs (including bird tracks and human footprints) carved into the rock.

 

There is a lot more to see at Mesa Verde and we will be going back later in the week.

Arches & Canyonlands

Yesterday we visited Arches National Park.

Arches National Park

IMG_4715

 

Sand Dune Arch

Sand Dune Arch sits on a floor of fine pink sand.  There were children building sand castles during our visit.

Walking into Sand Dune Arch
Walking into Sand Dune Arch

 

Sand Dune Arch
Sand Dune Arch

 

Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch is the largest in Arches National Park.  In 1991 a huge slab fell out of the arch but the arch has stayed connected. I heard that people were allowed to walk under the arch before that but fences are in place now to prevent it.

Landscape Arch
Landscape Arch

Windows

The Windows section of the park has several well known arches. We can also see these from our campground a few miles away.

South Window
South Window

 

North Window & South Window

 

Turret Arch
Turret Arch

 

Windows Section of Arches National Park as seen from Archview campground.
Windows Section of Arches National Park as seen from Archview campground.

Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch is the most well know arch. We did not take the long hike to walk around the base of the arch. I liked Landscape Arch better.

Delicate Arch
Delicate Arch

 

Not Arches

There were some other interesting sights that are not arches.

Three Gossips
Three Gossips

 

Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock

 

Canyonlands National Park

Today we visited Canyonlands. It was not nearly as impressive as arches but we saw some interesting and beautiful sites. The Green River and the Colorado River both run through the Park. The rivers have carved impressive canyons over the ages.

Canyonlands
Canyonlands

 

Shafer Canyon Road
Shafer Canyon Road

 

Shafer Canyon Road
Shafer Canyon Road

 

Green River
Green River

 

Caves in Canyonland
Caves in Canyonlands

 

View from Grand View Point
View from Grand View Point

 

View from Neck Spring Overlook. Note the people out on the rocks.
View from Neck Spring Overlook. Note the people out on the rocks.

 

 

Driving to Moab

Today we drove from Arizona up to Moab, UT which is near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. On the way we drove through Monument Valley and other scenic places on the Colorado Plateau (please excuse the spots on the windshield).

IMG_4411

 

IMG_4395

 

IMG_4370

 

IMG_4363

 

IMG_4362

 

IMG_4329

 

IMG_4302

 

IMG_4464

 

IMG_4460

 


IMG_4458

 

IMG_4457

 

IMG_4434

 

IMG_4422

 

IMG_4486

 


IMG_4467

 

 

We are staying in ArchView Campground in Moab. We can see Arches National Park in the distance from our campsite.

IMG_4475

 

IMG_4478

 

IMG_4482

 

Tomorrow we go see Arches up close, and Canyonlands the following day (I’m retired and I cannot remember what day of the week it is 🙂 ).

Kingman, AZ

We have stopped for a couple of nights at Fort Beale RV Park in Kingman, AZ.  We left the Grand Canyon yesterday because we had seen just about everything we wanted to and the weather was getting colder and windier – not much fun outside. Since we already have reservations in Southern AZ starting tomorrow we decided to take off early and visit another Route 66 town.

IMG_4214

 

We visited two history museums, The Route 66 History Museum and the Mohave Museum of History and Arts.

IMG_0818
1950s Main Street America

 

 

IMG_0821
One of a collection of electric vehicles.

 

 

Mural at Mohave Museum
Mural at Mohave Museum

 

 

Another Mural
Another Mural

 

 

Bill got into some trouble!
Bill got into some trouble!

 

 

Santa Fe Railroad Car
Santa Fe Railroad Car

 

 

Inside of railroad car - note the stove!
Inside of railroad car – note the stove!

 

We drove east about 30 miles on route 66 and visited Hackberry General Store. It’s a crazy place that was may have  once been a gas station and general store but is now more of ad-hoc collection of old route 66 memorabilia.

IMG_0840

 

 

IMG_0835

 

 

IMG_0850

 

 

IMG_0852

 

 

IMG_0841

 

 

IMG_0846

 

 

IMG_0847

Grand Canyon Historical District

Monday we visited the Grand Canyon Village Historic District. As early as 1901  tourists started visiting the grand canyon, arriving on the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams, AZ. During the following decade Grand Canyon Village expanded around the railway Station. We had fun exploring the historical buildings. Many of the buildings were designed by Mary Colter.

Railway Station
Railway Station

 

 

Bright Angel Lodge
Bright Angel Lodge

 

 

IMG_4179
This fireplace in Bright Angel Lodge is Mary Colter’s geological representation of the Gand Canyon rock layers.

 

 

Lookout Studio
Lookout Studio

 

 

El Tovar Hotel
El Tovar Hotel

 

 

Hopi House
Hopi House

Grand Canyon – South Rim

Yesterday and today we explored the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Yesterday we travelled west on the free shuttle buses as far as Hermit’s Rest. Today we travelled east by car as far as Desert View. We stopped at every site along the way in both directions. We did walk a bit but it is very difficult in the high elevation. We had sunny weather both days but today is a bit windy.

It’s ridiculous how many photos I took, it was hard to narrow it down to a manageable quantity for the blog. But the views are so spectacular.

IMG_3972

 

IMG_3962

 

IMG_4003

 

IMG_3981

 

IMG_4055

 

IMG_4053

 

 

We saw some better views of the Colorado River today.

IMG_4099

 

 

IMG_4095

 

 

IMG_4085

 

 

My new favorite historical person is Mary Colter. She was an architect in the early 1900s and designed a number of structures in Grand Canyon. Some are shown below and others I plan to visit during the rest of our stay.

Hermit's Rest gate
Hermit’s Rest gate

 

Hermit's Rest Interior
Hermit’s Rest Interior

 

Hermit's Rest Interior
Hermit’s Rest Interior

 

Hermit's Rest
Hermit’s Rest

 

Desert View Watchtower
Desert View Watchtower

 

Desert View Watchtower
Desert View Watchtower

 

Desert View Watchtower
Desert View Watchtower

 

Desert View Watchtower Interior
Desert View Watchtower Interior

 

Desert View Watchtower Interior
Desert View Watchtower Interior

 

Desert View Watchtower Interior
Desert View Watchtower Interior

 

 

We stopped at the Tusayan Ruins, the remains of an 800 year old Pueblo Indian Village.

IMG_4074

 

IMG_4073

 

IMG_4072

 

 

And the elk are still visiting frequently.

IMG_4049

Grand Canyon

We woke up this morning to 15 degrees (brrr!!). The water pump had frozen up so we had no running water while we got ready to leave. But no permanent damage. We brushed our teeth and flushed with drinking water 🙂

Left Bryce Canyon and drove to Grand Canyon.  On the way we drove through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

IMG_3888

 

IMG_3899

 

 

Part of our trip was on route 89. A section of route 89 in Arizona was closed in 2013 due to a landslide. It has been repaired and just re-opened recently. Don’t know if this is the location of the landslide that closed the road but certainly would not have liked being in the vicinity if rocks started sliding.

 

IMG_3924

 

Arrived in Grand Canyon Park early afternoon.
IMG_3933

 

 

Staying in Trailer Village Campground.

IMG_3934

 

 

IMG_3935

 

Walked over to the South Rim (a short walk from the campground) and got our first good look at the canyon.

IMG_3945

 

 

IMG_3948

 

A herd of elk roams around the campground regularly. We are finally getting to see some wildlife!

IMG_3958

 

 

IMG_3957

Bryce Canyon

We arrived in Bryce Canyon City yesterday.

IMG_3707

 

IMG_3705

 

 

We are staying at a campground just outside the park named Ruby’s Inn RV Park.  It is part of a large complex (hotel, store, campground) that started as a small inn in the early 1900s where visitors came to see Bryce Canyon. The inn was established by Rueben (aka Ruby) and Minnie Syrett who grew up in the area. There are not many other campers here.

IMG_0724

 

 

Today we visited Bryce Canyon National Park. The park is smaller than many others, located on a high plateau (note the elevations on the signs below) , and has spectacular views.

IMG_3733

 


IMG_3756

 

IMG_3788

 

IMG_3802

 

IMG_3808

 

IMG_3854

 

IMG_3855

 

IMG_3862

 

IMG_3817

 

IMG_3868

 

 

We learned a new word a few months ago. The rock formations in formed by erosion in many locations in the southwest are called ‘hoodoos’. There are loads of beautiful hoodoos in Bryce Canyon.

IMG_3803

 

IMG_3767

 

IMG_3732

 

IMG_3719

 

IMG_3859

 

IMG_3726

 

IMG_3747

 

IMG_3823

 

 

There were some warning signs posted.

IMG_3771

 

IMG_3796

 

 

We saw an area where a forest fire had occurred a few years ago. It does not seem that much a grown back yet.

IMG_3811

 

 

And we got a taste of the cold and snow we missed in Massachusetts this winter. It was in the 30s all day and there was plenty of snow and wind. Luckily the sun was warm and we did not need to shovel any snow.

IMG_3735